Established in 1978 by Jim Harris, the Prairie Lights Bookstore is a famous local landmark in Iowa and the favorite venue of popular authors for their book readings. With its unique fa?ade that was intentionally made to look like a face, the building is easily identifiable and is the only bookstore of its kind. It is also known as one of the biggest bookstores in Iowa holding up to 100,000 books. It was originally situated on South Linn Street and eventually moved on South Dubuque Street which is eleven times bigger.

Because of the larger space, the bookstore also converted one of the building?s floors into a coffee house that was the same venue for the 1930?s gathering of a local literary society. It was attended by Robert Frost, Carl Sandburg, E.E. Cummings, Sherwood Anderson and Langston Hughes among others.